Golf club head
A golf club may include a front surface, a rear surface having a recess, and an insert at least partially disposed in the recess. The insert may comprise a durometer hardness of less than about 95 Shore A and a cavity having a reinforcement member disposed therein. Preferably, the durometer hardness of the reinforcement member is also less than about 95 Shore A. The insert may further comprise an anterior perimetric boundary having a first length and a posterior perimetric boundary having a second length. The ratio of the first length to the second length may be less than 1 and greater than 0.5. In one example, the insert may have a triangular front profile and a triangular side profile.
Latest SRI Sports Limited Patents:
The disclosure below may be subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the documents containing this disclosure, as they appear in the Patent and Trademark Office records, but otherwise reserves all applicable copyrights.
BACKGROUNDConventional iron-type golf club heads often utilize a perimeter-weighting element to improve the mass properties of the head. Perimeter-weighted irons are typically more “forgiving” than those of the blade type because the elevated moment of inertia generally associated with perimeter-weighted designs reduces undesirable head rotation when a ball is mishit, or struck away from the point of orthogonal projection of the club head's center of gravity onto the striking surface of the head. Diminished rotation of the club head at ball impact beneficially affects the accuracy and distance of mishit shots.
Other known improvements associated with iron-type clubs include, e.g., replacing portions of the metallic material of the club head with lower-density non-metallic inserts. The resulting discretionary-weight surplus may be strategically distributed throughout the club head to increase its moment of inertia. However, conventional inserts are commonly made from substantially inelastic materials to comply with USGA rules that require all parts of the golf club to be rigid. Such inserts generally lack the compliance necessary to augment forgiveness of the club head on off-center shots. Moreover, typical inserts composed of more compliant material generally have a monolithic construction antonymous with superlative head-weight distribution.
SUMMARYThe present invention, in one or more aspects thereof, may comprise a golf club head having enhanced forgiveness on off-center shots, improved tactile feedback, and reduced hook/slice tendencies.
In one example, a golf club head, according to one or more aspects of the present invention, may include a front surface, a rear surface comprising a recess, and an insert at least partially disposed in the recess. The insert may have a durometer hardness less than about 95 Shore A and may include a cavity having a reinforcement member therein. The reinforcement member may also have a durometer hardness less than about 95 Shore A.
In another example, a golf club head, according to one or more aspects of the present invention, may include a front surface, a rear surface comprising a recess, and an insert at least partially disposed in the recess. The insert may include a generally triangular anterior profile and a generally triangular side profile.
In another example, a golf club head, according to one or more aspects of the present invention, may include a front surface, a rear surface comprising a recess, and an insert at least partially disposed in the recess. The insert may include an anterior side comprising a first substantially planar perimetric boundary having a first length and a posterior side comprising a second substantially planar perimetric boundary having a second length. Preferably, the ratio of the first length to the second length is less than 1 and greater than 0.5.
In another example, a golf club head, according to one or more aspects of the present invention, may include a front surface and a rear surface comprising an upper portion, a lower muscle portion, a plurality of imaginary reference paths, and an insert having a durometer hardness less than about 95 Shore A. The lower muscle portion may include at least one articulation points along at least one of the plurality of imaginary reference paths.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the golf club head according to the invention in its various aspects, as demonstrated by one or more of the various examples, will become apparent after consideration of the ensuing description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. The drawings described below are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
Exemplary implementations of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Examples of the golf club head according to one or more aspects of the invention will be described using one or more definitions, provided below.
Referring to
Referring again to
Referring again to
-
- 1) The template 114 is placed on the front surface 122, with the heel-toe axis 116 substantially parallel to the leading edge 124. The template is then laterally centered relative to the striking face 123 (in the heel-toe direction), whereby the measurements along the heel-toe axis 116 at the opposite boundaries of the striking face 123, are of equal magnitude, but opposite sign.
- 2) While maintaining the heel-toe orientation of step 1, above, vis-à-vis the face 123, the template 114 is centered relative to the striking face 123 in the sole-top line direction, whereby the measurements along the sole-top line axis 118 at the opposite edges of the face 123 are of equal magnitude, but opposite sign.
- 3) Steps 1 and 2, above, are repeated until the template 114 is centered relative to the striking face 123 both in the heel-toe and the sole-top line direction. A point corresponding to the location of the aperture 120 on the striking face 123 indicates the face center 110.
“Non-arcuate junction,” as used herein, refers to a junction of two lines where an arcuate line intersects a straight line (
Referring to
As shown in
When determining whether one of the plurality of reference paths P1 . . . Pn changes curvature, it is assumed that all non-arcuate junctions along each reference path are arcuate. For example, each non-arcuate junction 444 (
“Discretionary weight”, as used herein, denotes the difference between the target mass of the club head and the minimum structural mass required to form the club head.
Turning now to
Referring again to
Referring to
As illustrated in
According to the USGA Rules, all parts of a golf club head must be rigid. To maintain the requisite rigidity of the insert 552, at least one reinforcement member 566 (
Referring again to
Referring to
Referring again to
Moreover, the lateral dimension of the insert 552 may decrease from the apex 568 to the base 570, resulting in a triangular side profile. As shown in
Referring again to
The club head, according to one or more aspects of the present invention, may be formed from a metallic material, e.g., by a forging or casting process. Examples of materials suitable for fabricating the club head may include stainless steel, titanium, or the like. In one example, the club head may be formed, at least in part, of fiber-reinforced or fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP), otherwise known as reinforced thermoset plastic (RTP), reinforced thermoset resin (RTR), and glass-reinforced plastic (GRP).
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
Claims
1. A golf club head comprising:
- a front surface;
- a rear surface defining a recess; and
- an insert at least partially disposed in the recess and defining a cavity, the insert including:
- an apex,
- a base opposite the apex, and
- a reinforcement member connecting the apex to the base and dividing the cavity into a first subcavity and a second subcavity, the reinforcing member having a thickness that gradually decreases in the apex-to-base direction.
2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the insert has a durometer hardness of less than about 85 Shore A.
3. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein the insert has a durometer hardness of less than about 70 Shore A.
4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a volume of the recess is between about 0.5 cm3 and about 5 cm3.
5. The golf club head of claim 4, wherein the volume of the recess is between about 1 cm3 and about 3 cm3.
6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the insert comprises a triangular front profile.
7. The golf club head of claim 6, wherein the insert comprises a triangular side profile.
8. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the rear surface comprises a muscle portion, the insert being disposed entirely within the muscle portion.
9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the insert further comprises an anterior side and a posterior side, the cavity being disposed on the posterior side.
10. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the insert comprises a triangular side profile.
11. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein when the insert is disposed in the recess, the apex is proximal the sole and the base is distal to the sole.
Type: Grant
Filed: Jul 29, 2008
Date of Patent: Apr 30, 2013
Patent Publication Number: 20100029407
Assignee: SRI Sports Limited (Kobe-shi)
Inventors: Andrew P. Chick (Solon, OH), Christopher R. Cooper (Orange, CA), Sharon J. Park (Irvine, CA), Kevin R. Tassistro (Huntington Beach, CA)
Primary Examiner: Michael Dennis
Application Number: 12/219,826
International Classification: A63B 53/06 (20060101); A63B 53/04 (20060101);